Memorable literary hoaxes

John Blanding, Associated Press

"Misha: A Memoire of the Holocaust Years" (1997) Misha Defonseca, left, with her co-writer Vera Lee, has since said that her real name is Monique De Wael and that she never fled her home in Brussels during World War II to find her parents. She said they were arrested and killed by Nazis as Belgian resistance fighters.

"Misha: A Memoire of the Holocaust Years" (1997) Misha Defonseca, left, with her co-writer Vera Lee, has since said that her real name is Monique De Wael and that she never fled her home in Brussels during World War II to find her parents. She said they were arrested and killed by Nazis as Belgian resistance fighters. (John Blanding, Associated Press)

"A Million LIttle Pieces," 2003 James Frey's bestselling "memoir," an Oprah Winfrey book club pick, was revealed to be largely a fabrication in January 2006 by the Smoking Gun website.

"A Million LIttle Pieces," 2003 James Frey's bestselling "memoir," an Oprah Winfrey book club pick, was revealed to be largely a fabrication in January 2006 by the Smoking Gun website. (George Burns, Associated Press)